Post-Darwinist

This blog provides stories that Denyse O'Leary, a Toronto-based journalist, has found to be of interest, as she covers the growing intelligent design controversy. It supports her book By Design or by Chance? (Augsburg 2004). Does the universe - and do life forms - show evidence of intelligent design? If so, Carl Sagan was wrong and so is Richard Dawkins. Now what?

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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Expelled film coming to Canada - fifty screens, and ... a surprise or two in store for Americans

I just talked to Kevin Miller, one of the Expelled screenwriters. Having cleared the legal hurdle created by Yoko Ono's lawsuit, the Ben Stein film about the intelligent design guys is opening on 50 screens across Canada starting June 28.

Considering the problems that dogged the production of Expelled (claims that key Darwinists were tricked into taking part, the ejection of "raving atheist" PZ Myers from a showing, accusations of copyright violation (not really substantiated), release delayed from February to April, and of course, Ono's lawsuit), it is surprising that the film is even out of the can, let alone that it is #5 in political documentaries.

Pretty remarkable given that, as Kevin points out, it is a film about the philosophy of science.

Another way of looking at that is: Anyone who thinks there is no culture war in progress should reflect on the fact that a film about the philosophy of science could be the #5 political documentary.

So it will be fascinating to watch the ritual denunciations in Canadian legacy media, and the accompanying predictions of disastrous sales.

Kevin, born in Saskatchewan but currently living in BC, also told me about two upcoming developments in the States that I can't yet reveal except to say that American harrumphologists will be plenty annoyed. Stay tuned.

Incidentally, I had been complaining about the fact that the Expelled folk wouldn't send me an advance copy, not even when the Canada release was delayed due to Ono's lawsuit. (It was supposed to be June 6.) Well, Kevin couldn't get an advance copy either, and he was the screenwriter. They took no risks, he confirmed, that the film might end up on the Internet (instead of grossing $7.5 million so far).

See also Oh no, Ono!: Expelled (the film about the intelligent design guys) can still be shown